I don't Believe for a Minute the Detroit Game wasn't Important to the Pacers

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I don't Believe for a Minute the Detroit Game wasn't Important to the Pacers

Honestly, I think this Game should have been a statement Game for the Pacers and Let everyone know without a doubt were the best and we deserve the respect were not getting. The Detriot team we played today wasn't the same detriot team we played 3 previous times and I think that's clear and the same was said by Rick and some of the Pacers Players.

If this Game wasn't important , why was Ron pleading with Rick to stay in even after his 3rd Foul ? If this Game wasn't Important why did JO play 37 mins ? You can bet your *** Rick was trying to win this game and make no bones about it , this game meant alot to him and this Pacers team and they weren't going to laydown because they have Clintched anything .

If we would have beat the Pistons today it would have been a mental edge for us , but now the Pistons realize they can beat us . No I am not saying we can't beat the Pistons in a 7 game series , If we meet the Pistons again in the Playoffs you can bet it's gonna be a knock down and drag out fight to the end .

I hope the Pacers don't take this game to much too heart and let it get into there heads , I think we will find that answer out when we play those Evil Knicks I hope this Loss today will make us stronger and we won't stumble to some silly loss in the last few games , but to say this game held no value or importance is just ludacris.

Re: I don't Believe for a Minute the Detroit Game wasn't Important to the Pacers

It wasn't important. That's it.

There's a huge difference between playing like you need to win, and playing like it would be nice to win. We were playing like it would be nice to win.

Agreed. And who seriously was expecting the Pacers to win today? There's no reason why this game will send us on a tail spin downward like some think it will.

It was just one game in the NBA schedule and it doesn't tell me a whole lot about how a full strength, 100% healthy Pacers squad matches up against the Pistons. We weren't, so until we are, we have no idea how the two teams matchup together when healthy.

Re: I don't Believe for a Minute the Detroit Game wasn't Important to the Pacers

Anyone who thinks this game was NOT important to the Pacers hasn't been paying attention. This game was very important.

I'll admit that JO didn't seem to have it today. And based on his success at the line, I'd say his knee may have even been bothering him a bit today. But regardless, this game was important. We at least wanted to play well enough so that Detroit would not play significantly better against us than they did in the other three games..... but they did.

But it will NOT be the cause of any kind of tailspin. The Pacers lost a game that was important to them. There are many lessons to be learned from the game in order to be better prepared for any possible future game against this Pistions team. And in preparation for the playoffs, I'd be willing to bet we learned a hell of a lot more about the Pistions today than they did about us..... Afterall, Pistons defense or not, we played a pretty crappy game, and did so without our starting point guard.

The coaching staff will certainly discussed this game in a "lessons learned" session. But their focus is now on the next game. Same as its always been.

"It's a tough loss but it doesn't kill us," Pistons forward Clifford Robinson said. "For us, we're still in the driver's seat. It's just a matter of us taking care of business."

"We're not worried about the playoffs. We're not worried about the Pacers," Billups said. "We're worried about the Pistons. We need to fix what we need to fix right now and that's the bottom line. It has nothing to do with two weeks from now, two days from now, we've got to worry about right now and what we've got to fix."

The game last year that we won actually meant something in the race for the central division title, but just like they said we are still in the drivers' seat. Yeah a win would have been great might have hurt Detroit's confidence a little far a future match up, but its not really that important. We still have the lead for home court throughout. I'm not concerned.

Re: I don't Believe for a Minute the Detroit Game wasn't Important to the Pacers

So when the posters at the site in the predict the rest of the regular season threads put an L next to the at Detroit game those people are not real fans?

There's no way that any team is going to go 82-0 in the regular season, and 16-0 in the playoffs. Losses are a major reality, and the reality was that the Pistons had a heck of a lot more to play for mentally than did the Pacers.

I'd say that a lot of people here expected a loss to occur today, party for the reason that we knew they'd be gunning at us. Just like Milwaukee knew in the fourth game against them that we'd be gunning after them.

Re: I don't Believe for a Minute the Detroit Game wasn't Important to the Pacers

I am not expecting a perfect season , I am not expecting we will never lose a game , but we have what 5 games left the playoffs are right around the corner , the playoffs start in 13-14 days that's 2 weeks to get into playoff mode and get 100% healthy.

Re: I don't Believe for a Minute the Detroit Game wasn't Important to the Pacers

But there was really no reason to expect a win today. It would have been very, very hard to match the expected intensity on both sides of the ball we knew the Pistons would have. We didn't.

I'm sure as the games on and on JO will play less and less so his knee heals better than where it's at right now. I'm going to predict that we don't lose another game all year and with our schedule that is very possible.

We do have depth, and they're going to get their opportunities. I wouldn't be shocked to see Al start some games as JO takes some games off down the stretch.

Re: I don't Believe for a Minute the Detroit Game wasn't Important to the Pacers

Agreed. And who seriously was expecting the Pacers to win today?

Ummm I was expecting a Win and any Pacers fan who wasn't I would have to question if your really a Pacers Fan.

I doubt there are many out there who wanted the Pacers to win any more than I did. There certainly isn't anyone out there who has been a Pacer fan any longer than I have.

Wanting your team to win and expecting your team to win are two totally different things. One is a process of the heart; the other involves the brain.

Well I tend to get emtional like in a Ron Artest aspect , I guess it upsets me that no one but Ron Artest showed up today , if we could have had 3-4 players with Ron"s Intensity today we would have won for sure today.

Re: I don't Believe for a Minute the Detroit Game wasn't Important to the Pacers

Agreed. And who seriously was expecting the Pacers to win today?

Ummm I was expecting a Win and any Pacers fan who wasn't I would have to question if your really a Pacers Fan.

I doubt there are many out there who wanted the Pacers to win any more than I did. There certainly isn't anyone out there who has been a Pacer fan any longer than I have.

Wanting your team to win and expecting your team to win are two totally different things. One is a process of the heart; the other involves the brain.

Well I tend to get emtional like in a Ron Artest aspect , I guess it upsets me that no one but Ron Artest showed up today , if we could have had 3-4 players with Ron"s Intensity today we would have won for sure today.

I agree with you on this about our intensity. We do know that with Ron, he's going to be 100% intense 100% of the time. That's just the type of player he is which is why he's so valuable to our team.

I hope Ron remains a Pacer for a long time. He's so gifted athletically, and his defense is outstanding.

Re: I don't Believe for a Minute the Detroit Game wasn't Important to the Pacers

Intresting Pacers Comments :

Reggie Miller
"It's only one game, but their effort superseded anything we had done in winning those three games."

Rick Carlisle
"We have a long road to travel before we can think about playing a third-round playoffs series,"

“The Pistons are a great defensive team, and that’s no secret. We had some opportunities but you just have to give them credit for just playing a great game. We could have been a lot better offensively but they had a lot to do with our struggles. This is a completely different team (with Rasheed Wallace) , and along with Lindsey Hunter and James (Mike) they also have a strong second defensive backcourt. I’m hoping that we’ll get in position to have an opportunity to get to play them again, and that of course will mean we will have done well in the playoffs to get to that point."

Perhaps starter Jamaal Tinsley, who was home recovering from a viral sinus infection, would have made a difference, but . . .

"I'm not going to make excuses," Carlisle said. "We said early this year we're not going to be an excuse team, and we're not."

Jermaine O'Neal
I guess everybody's going to write us off now, like they always do when we lose a game,"

JEFF FOSTER
They are a very different team now. Obviously what they’ve done defensively over the last third of the season has been very impressive. We clearly struggled tonight offensively against one of the best teams in the NBA since that trade, and they proved that tonight.”

"Hey, Rick, put in the seniors!" a Pistons fan shouted in the final minutes, when the outcome was inevitable.

Kenny Anderson
"It's probably good we lost like this," Anderson said. "We have to regroup and understand what this team is going to be about if we see them again. We have to remember how we lost and why we lost."

It was made worse, however, by the timing and the exposure. This isn't the time of year a playoff-destined team wants to be dominated, nor does it want its worst side shown on an ABC regional broadcast.

Re: I don't Believe for a Minute the Detroit Game wasn't Important to the Pacers

Every divisional game is important. Even games against the Hawks and Bulls are important.

But to expect the Pacers to sweep a divisional rival that's also going to finish with more than 50 wins... that would be found in Webster's under "Homer."

Why do the things that we treasure most, slip away in time
Till to the music we grow deaf, to God's beauty blind
Why do the things that connect us slowly pull us apart?
Till we fall away in our own darkness, a stranger to our own hearts
And life itself, rushing over me
Life itself, the wind in black elms,
Life itself in your heart and in your eyes, I can't make it without you